Artificial manure and method of producing same



Patented May 7, 1935 ARTIFICIAL PATENT OFFICE AND METHOD OF M'ANUB-E PRODUCING Sm Jacob Kaiser, Vaihingen, and. Eberhard Sauce,

Stuttgart,

Germany No Drawing. Application March. 11, 1931, Serial No. 521,876. In Germany duly Iii, 152'? 1 Claim.

Our invention refers to a. new type of artificial manure and to the means whereby it can be produced. It is an object of our invention to produce an artificial manure from wastes which were 5 hitherto not utilized for this purpose in a satistime the physical condition of the soil must be rectory manner.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, it sell used for agriculture shall be relied upon to furnish satisfactory yields, the addition of inorgenicsubstances (artificial fertilizers) does not suifice, additions of organic substances being required to maintain the bacterial life responsible for the proper condition of the soil. At the some influenced in order to provide for the necessary aeration and hydration of the soil.

Hitherto the stablemenure was mainlyrelied upon to fulfil these conditions, however the quantitles of stable manure which are nowadays availr able, do not suffice to answer the requirements.

It is an object of our invention'to provide a. substitute for the stable manure, which is at least its equivalent and which is available in sufficient quantities. According to our invention we utilize the organic matter contained in the town sewage. Experiments hitherto made for utilizing the freshly settled sewage sludge have shown it to be unfit for use as an organic manure. For the organic matter contained in this sludge consists mainly of putresclble materials which contain putrefactive bacteria. If these materials are directly incorporated in the soil, the untrefoction will proceed and generate in the soil substances which are injurious to vegetation.

feet the sewage sludge to a. vigorous decomposition in order to obtain a. product, in which the,

putrescible matter is substantially destroyed. To this end we cause the mass to undergo a process of humification, care being taken to avoid the formation of acids and. the access of air. This can be obtained in a perfect manner in the sludge digestion chambers of the settling tanks (Imhofl tanks), where the sludge undergoes far reaching changes, the'putrescible materials being vigorously decomposed. The final product resulting in this process, which extends over several months, is. a thickly fluid, almost homogeneous mass of colloidal-character, in which the organic structure or the many waste materials contained in the sludge is destroyed altogether. This final product forms a suitable basis for the production 0! a bacterial manure according to the present invention.

We have therefore found it necessary to sulc- I We have now found that if this product of decomposition is. incorporated in the. soil as such, it will remain inefiective and may even prove injurious, as it lacks the necessary physical character.

In order to import to it this character, we mix the dls'estedor decomposed sludge with a me. terloi. presenting as large surface, whereby the sludge is loosened and finely distributed. We have foundv neat and peat-moss and more especiaily high-grade peat-dust to be particularly suitable for this purpose.

In. preparing the new manure we prefer mixing the putrefied sewage sludge with peat-moss end/or peat-dust in suitable proportions. In thus p roceeclingwc not onlyproduce a mechanical mixture, but we induce important chemical and nhsulcai processes, which are responsible for the vsluu-ble urogcerties oi the new manure.

g suitably propoxtioning the two components of thelmixinre we succeed in? neutralizing the acid contents of." the peat with the alkali contents of the decomposed sludge.

We illl'l'llfil. cause the colloidal matter in the r alkaline-sludge to be deprived of its colloidal character by the acid peat, whereby the sepem I tion of the waieris considerably facilitated.

Furthermore the dry peat, owing to its swelling energy, will take up so much water from the sludge, that on loose strewable manure is obtallied without smr artificial drying.

to the fine distribution of the sludge metedsl on the surface of the peat the sludge obtains the character of a high-grade nutrient medium for bacteria.

We thus obtain a manure having particularly useful pro ation.

' In practicing our invention we cause the theroughly digested sludge to flow into a collecting pit, wherein it estimates from the water in excase by setflhig. The sludge is then continuously fed into s2. mhzlngdevicgwhem it is uniformly mixed high-grade peat-moss or peat-dust. We have found theta mixture of about 1 ohm.

V peat and L2? chm. digested sludge forms a loose wan,

With a peat of different acid content and a sludge of different alkali content the proportions of the mixture should of course be altered accordingly.

From the foregoing it will be understood that peat may be used in accordance with our invention in any suitable form, be it peat-dust, peatmoss or the like. The expression peat in the afllxed claim is intended to mean peat-dust and peat-moss as well as other natural or artificial suitable peat products. Y

Various changes may be made in the details disclosed in the foregoing specification without departing from the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

We claim;

As a new product, an artificial manure being a substantially neutral mixture of putrefied sludge from town-sewage settling tanks (Imhoff tanks) with peat, the product being loose and strewable.

JACOB KAISER. EBERHARD SAUER. 

